Adventures of a wedding planning future Mrs. Doctor

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Thank goodness it’s Wednesday, ya’ll. Today will easily be my most “strenuous” day of the week and once it is over, I will officially be over the hump of this week…and only 1.5 days away from a nice weekend trip to the mountains AND the end of the semester.

Grad school kicked my butt this semester. And it wasn’t even a busy semester. In fact, it’s one of the least busy semesters I’ve ever survived…which is part of the problem because I’ve actually had time to sit on the couch and think about the sheer misery of 2 more years of school. I’ve never used a hashtag before but I’m pretty sure #FirstWorldProblems applies.

So I’ve basically been running/biking my butt off. 1) to get rid of stress and 2) I’ve gained a lot of weight and I want my clothes to fit again because girl doesn’t have the cash for new clothes and 3) my first wedding dress fitting is in T-minus 9 days and 4 hours.

I’m not under any illusions that I will lose any great amount of weight between now and then but I at least want to make an attempt to be closer to my 2nd fitting size. I never thought I would be so vapid about my dress fittings and always said I wouldn’t be one of those brides…but dang it was hard to resist the siren call of “bride body workouts”.

My willpower clearly isn’t strong enough.

But on the plus side I have been doing a lot more (body)strength work (plank is my homeboy) and plyometrics (burpees, I love to hate you and hate to love you)…which has left me consistently sore and happy. I’m one of those weird people who loves being sore because I literally worked my butt off.

My main problem has been water retention. Whenever I run long or ride long…or do any sort of exercise, really, I notice an overall “swollen” feeling in my muscles…which somewhat disappears once I get properly hydrated. Does anyone else experience that?

Anywho…the main purpose of this ridiculous rambling post was to try and create some goals so that I don’t have a mental breakdown between now and the end of the semester.

I like to make goal lists:

1) Have at least 4 research subjects completed by next Wednesday

2) Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day

3) Do at least 2 min of plank per day

4) Run, Forrest, Run…to keep my sanity

5) RELAX. Whatever happens is fine. Life will go on. I will survive. Blah, blah, blah.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with blog topics. So I haven’t been posting. And of course, I’ve been fretting over wedding dress fittings and RSVP cards and my upcoming internship.

But as of yesterday, all of that just seemed so…pointless.

It’s hard to believe that the day of so many runner’s dreams was destroyed with the most senseless act of violence. It’s hard to even find the words to describe exactly how I’m feeling. Mostly bewildered and angry. And attacked because, as a runner, that hit a little too close to home.

But then I got to thinking…if this had to happen to a community (which of course it didn’t and I hope whoever is responsible for this madness is held accountable for his actions), the running community is a “good one”. We are strong, we will pull together, and yesterday will not be the last Boston marathon. We are a resilient bunch. We will help each other through the hard times and celebrate the good times.

I saw this article and it summed things up pretty well…go read it and then go for a run for Boston.

I’ve had an insanely difficult time deciding what to write about. Mostly because, when I’m home, literally all I want to do is a) run, b) lay on the couch, or c) go run then lay on the couch.

Y’all, the end of the semester is coming and it’s never been more evident.

Motivation? What motivation?

So, since all I seem to want to do is run (especially with our newly found spring! 80 degress! Sunny! Beautiful!), I decided I’d talk about running.

Earlier this year, I committed myself to do a half marathon in June. I was excited, I made a training plan, I started being a more consistent runner again. And then I got accepted to do a 2.5 month clinical rotation at a super awesome hospital…that happens to be out-of-town. Like, in another state out-of-town.

So I had to change my goals.

And, as luck would have it, the same half marathon I was planning to do also has a 10-miler.

So I downgraded, in hopes that 3.1 less miles would seem less daunting and that training would be less of a weird looking cloud hanging over my head while I am trying to impress some pretty impressive people with my clinical skills.

I have mixed feelings about this in general. My gut is kind of like, “eh, whatevs” but my mind is like “what? really? you’re quitting?”

No mind, I’m not quitting. I’m just trying to ensure my sanity in what I know will end up being 2.5 months of 50+ hour weeks.

And then I think of all my doctor friends, who trained for Ironmans and marathons and ultras during their residency. And feel bad about myself.

But goals are supposed to be personal, are they not? And truth be told, I’m totally pumped about this 10-miler. There is a *candy buffet* at the end y’all. And it’s hilly, so I know it will challenge my mind and body. And let’s face it, life changes…sometimes you just need to roll with the punches…I may *finally* be learning how to do that.

I’m usually a pretty early riser; my alarm sounds at 5 am (5:30 on a good day) and I (almost) never hit snooze. Right now, I’m gearing up for a 4 am wake-up call on Friday to travel to a super awesome conference…which of course I’m almost simultaneously dreading and excited about.

But here are a few tips to make getting up early a little bit less painful:

1. Don’t hit snooze! If I need to get up by a certain time, snoozing does not help. It just makes me feel more tired and grouchy at the fact that I do need to be up and getting ready to be productive. I usually lay in bed for a minute and look at my phone, just to get my brain up and at ’em.

2. Turn on all the lights. Even if it’s not super dark. Daylight Savings has given us the privilege of *needing* a million lights in the morning but even before DS I was still cranking up the electricity.

3. Have a routine. I look at email on my phone while laying in bed, get up and shower/brush my teeth, eat breakfast, and then drink tea/blog. I do the same exact thing every single morning, which is helpful in knowing how long I need to get ready and keeps me from making dumb early morning mistakes.

4. Set out your clothes and make your lunch the night before. Doing this makes me feel like a mom but it’s ever so helpful. Trying to decide what to wear in a dark bedroom or making sure you have enough time to rush to make lunch has never worked for me.

5. Eat breakfast. I’m addicted to caffeine so I drink it all. the. time. but I usually feel leaps and bounds more awake after I fill myself up with delicious goodness.

6. Have a super warm robe and slippers next to your bed. I hate being cold so knowing that, when I throw off the covers, I am only 30 seconds away from being cozy again is helpful.

7. Have a daily to-do list. I make one online and have it emailed to my phone every morning (via Sunrise) so I know what to prep for.

8. Do it every day. Some mornings I have the chance to sleep in until a “normal” hour of 7:30. Unless I’ve been extremely sleep deprived or it’s the weekend, I’ll rarely switch my wake-up time. That way I get sleepy at around the same time every night and get used to the earlier wake-up call.

9. Sometimes it sucks. Some mornings I wake up and all I want to do is skip class or clinicals and sleep for the next month. Sometimes I burn my toast or make my tea to hot. Sometimes I start doing something and end up running late. Knowing that it sucks is half the battle.

10. But know that you have to do it. The boy always asks me how I manage to get up before the sun. Well, it’s easy…I have to. If I didn’t need to be up at 5, I’d probably sleep until a cozy 8:00 am and start my day from there. But knowing I don’t have a choice in the matter…that’s the other half of the battle.

2. When patients cancel because of the rainy weather and I look outside and it’s perfectly sunny out, I want to tear my hair out. Is the inability to drive in any sort of precipitation just a southern thing? I feel like it is…

3. I had dinner with a friend I haven’t seen since December last night and it was amazing. We drank way too much tea (no wine was involved, hurray good choices!) and ate way to much garlic bread and talked about relationships/weddings/school and had normal adult conversations that I haven’t had since the semester started. I don’t have many out-of-the-department friends…

4. I’ve re-done my running schedule for the week because I fully realize that I am a) not going to exercise on Friday after having gotten up at 4 am to travel to a conference, b) not going to exercise on Sunday because said conference is having a party and I won’t want to mess up my hair that day, and c) I’ll probably only feel like running 2 miles on Saturday because, again, said conference is having a party and I’m getting my hair did…plus it’s in a cold place and southerners don’t like cold places OR precipitation.

{Total: 19-20 miles, better than last week and closer to the 21 I want to be running every week}

5. I’m currently trying to decide on my specialty. Definitely something pediatric. I currently have a pediatric rotation and a baby threw up on me and a parent yelled at me and I still love it. But there are so many choices.

Happy Tuesday, y’all! I’m presenting to a group of undergrads today about whatever topics they want to ask me about…so wish me luck.

That I love productive mornings. I woke up at 6:30 knowing that I didn’t have to be at school until noon. Which was rough when my alarm went off. But after doing the dishes, baking a cake, running, showering, and eating breakfast…I feel pretty darn accomplished. And I’m questioning my decision for further education…who needs to be a doctor when there are nice mornings to be had?

That “pyramid runs” are the key to beating boredom on the treadmill. I started at 6.0 and sped up 0.1 mph every 0.1 mile. Then once I reached my max comfort (which today was 6.5 mph until the last mile, when my legs decided they wanted to go to 7.0) I would start on back down.

That walk-running is a legit thing. I ran 4 miles today. But 0.3 of those miles were walked at 3.8 mph and a 3% incline. I used to not count my walking warm up as part of my run…but why not? Especially since I’m trying to slowly up my mileage without injury. I still went 4 miles…what are your thoughts on walk-running?

That I love routine. Okay, I’ve known that for my entire life basically. But I texted no less than 5 classmates to make sure that we didn’t have to be at school this morning because even though I was *loving* being at home, it still freaked me out to not be doing my usual Monday morning activities.

Balance is key. I’m training to make people healthy again so many of my professors and clinical supervisors do not agree with the “balance is key” idea. They think that I need to eat, sleep, and breathe school. And true, some days I do. And on those days I make flash cards on my phone so I can study at all times. But some days I don’t. And I need those days for my sanity.

I can’t believe it is Sunday already. But it is an unbelievably beautiful day and for the first time in months I didn’t have to wear stockings with my dress to church.

Hallelujah.

I also ate Goldfish crackers as part of my lunch. In my pajamas. On the couch. While watching HGTV. Life pretty much doesn’t get better than that.

Today also marks week 2 of the boy and I *finally* moving in together. Considering that we basically lived together for 2 years prior to getting our own apartment, it hasn’t been that much of an adjustment. Especially since we got a 2 bedroom, despite everyone’s questions of “why do y’all need that much space?”.

Uh, because we both need our own space to feel sane.

It was a solid decision.

I didn’t run as many miles as I had planned this past week due to just feeling really tired and unmotivated. Tuesdays are usually my rest days but I used my spare time to squeeze in an extra run instead of lounging on the couch and that definitely took a told. Even with the extra run, my total mileage still only added up to a measly 14.5 miles.

So the doctor’s orders for this week is: run longer, run slower.

Monday: 3.5 miles

Tuesday: 4 miles

Wednesday: 3.5 miles

Thursday: 4 miles

Friday: ? I’m traveling, so maybe a quick 2 miles. But this will be counted as zero until a run actually happens

Saturday: 3 miles

Sunday: Rest

Planned total: 18 miles!

My goal is to get to the point where I am consistently running 20 miles before I start embarking on longer runs. I think my body could handle the higher mileage but I *do not* want to invite any change for injury or burn-out.

1. The first thing I do every morning is drink at least two gigantic mugs of tea. On a good day, I’ll follow that up with only a green tea in to bust the 3 pm blues. On a tired day, I’ll follow that up with espresso + green tea…at the very least

2. When I wear my glasses, my patients are more receptive to my recommendations. Because apparently glasses do make you look smarter sometimes.

3. Part of the reason that I picked the wedding dress that I did is so that I wouldn’t have to worry about wearing spanx. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

4. I love watching the Kardashians. Like an unhealthy amount of love. But when Kim K said that she wasn’t going to get allergy shots because she was “detoxing her system” of “bad thing” I almost exploded. Allergy shots are just solutions of what you are allergic that, when injected, help your body build immunity.

5. At the gym, I obsessively wipe down the treadmill (or whatever machine I’ve been on) with their disinfectant wipes when I’m done working out. And sometimes before…

Every Wednesday I seem to either wake up with a head splitting headache or either acquire one later in the day. I know it’s likely not caffeine related because I’ve had no big changes in my consumption. It may be hydration related because despite that I’ve even been making an effort to drink more water, I just suck at drinking water. But I’m also ridiculously tired of constantly popping ibuprofen on what seems like only Wednesdays.

Maybe I’m just allergic to Wednesdays.

Any thoughts?

I was really impressed with myself yesterday, though. I got done with my morning patients about a half hour early, which gave me about 2 hours instead of only 1 hour free before I needed to head back to school.

Which means I was able to go grocery shopping AND run. At noon. When I could’ve easily just *napped*.

Granted, it was only a quick 2.2 mile run at my apartment complex, but that’s greater than the 0 I’ve been averaging every Tuesday. Tuesday is usually my longest day so the only spare time I have involves me shoving food in my gullet and trying to not fall asleep once my belly is full.

Tonight I have an easy 4 mile treadmill run planned. Along with dinner with the girls from my cohort. It was supposed to be a Pinterest party but I believe it has turned into a “I’m just going to buy a veggie tray and some cupcakes from the store and then we are going to spend an hour complaining over how frustrating this semester is” party. Which is of course fine by me since the only time we really get to see each other is during class since we’ve all gotten so scattered about for clinical rotations.

This morning was the very first time that I walked through our new apartment and it was pitch black. I couldn’t see a thing! Which was disconcerting. Thank goodness for iPhones and their flashlight apps. Otherwise it’s possible I’d still trying to be walk down the hallway in the dark, fumbling for a light switch!

Daylight Savings Time (the bad, lose an hour of sleep one) always throws me for a little loop but I feel like I’m adjusting a tiny bit better this year compared to past years. Or maybe I’m just used to waking up and getting ready and going to school in the dark.

That light bulb is a lot happier than I look most mornings.

Anywho, I *finally* created a training plan for my half marathon. I’m currently trying to tweak it and perfect it because yesterday was supposed to be my first run but it turned into a cross-training day when I couldn’t get to the gym until the busiest evening time and there were no treadmills available.

So I hopped on the stationary bike for 30 minutes and cranked up the resistance. By the end, I was literally sweating through my t-shirt. Y’all, that is the definition of a good workout. The stationary bike that my gym has (yes, only one…it’s sad) has *the* most uncomfortable seat ever and I spend more time focusing on my poor backside than the pain I’m feeling in my legs, so that’s a plus…

I’ve been trying to find some good non-school-rec-center spinning classes in my city but that’s been a bit more difficult than I anticipated. I just miss it so much! There are other gyms in town that offer spinning but since my gym is about half the cost of the others, I have a hard time justifying the switch…especially since my gym is a perfect 5 to 7 minute drive from the apartment, which is about all I’m willing to do after a long, long day.

Would you switch gyms for classes?

What’s your favorite class at your gym (or workout, if you’re not a member of one!)